Adrian College football claims outright MIAA title

Sunday

Nov 4, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Bulldogs secure spot in NCAA Division III playoffs

Daily Telegram staff

The Adrian College defense came up with its biggest stop of the season in overtime on Saturday, denying Albion College's Darrin Williams a two-point conversion that preserved Adrian College's 20-19 victory.

The win gives Adrian College the outright MIAA championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament, its third in school history. It is Adrian's first outright title since 1983, and Adrian's last appearance in the postseason was in 1988.

Adrian (8-1, 6-0 MIAA) held a 13-3 lead at halftime, but Albion's defense held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half while the Britons were able to rally to tie the score on Jimmy Nieman's 39-yard field goal with 11:53 left in regulation.

The Bulldogs scored their first two TDs on big plays, the first being Dae'Von Robinson's 48-yard run less than three minutes into the game. After a Nieman field goal made it 7-3, Adrian struck again when Taylor Copacia found his favorite target, Justin Hemm, on a 49-yard pass play good for a score and a 13-3 lead after Dustin Salliotte's PAT was blocked.

Albion (6-3, 3-2) rallied in the second half with a Williams run and a Nieman field goal, sending the game to overtime.

Adrian got the ball first in overtime, and the Copacia-Hemm combo struck again, first on a 15-yard completion to the Albion 10 and then an 8-yard completion for the score after Dae'Von Robinson ran for two yards. Salliotte's PAT was good, setting up the Britons' try on their overtime possession.

Williams picked up 20 yards on the first play and then finished it off with a 5-yard score.

An Adrian facemask penalty moved the ball to the 2-yard line for the extra point try, and the Britons elected to go for the win.

Williams again took the handoff but he was stuffed at the goal line by a swarming Adrian defense, sending the Bulldogs into celebration mode.

The Copacia-Hemm connection was good for 13 completions and 210 yards as Copacia finished 22-for-32 for 269 yards and a pair of scores. Robinson paced the ground attack with 89 yards on 20 carries.

Adrian's defense limited Albion to just 164 total yards, just 40 through the air as quarterback Spencer Krauss (Clinton) was 5-for-14.

The Bulldogs close out their regular season on Saturday at 6-2 Huntingdon (Ala.).